Earthquake Visit

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The garlanded gentlemen are (from right

  

Presenting is Dr Nasim Ashraf, Minister of

to left) Brig. Norman Butler CBE, PHDF 

 

State and Chairman of the National

patron - M. Irshad Khokhar, PHDF UK

  

Commission for Human Development,

Chairman and Founder Director - Pervaiz

  

Pakistan.

Lodhi, PHDF Founder Director - Shoaib

    

Kothawala.

    
     

The following report is by Brig. Norman Butler, Patron, Pakistan Human

Development Fund UK.
 

On New Year's Eve 2005, I had the great privilege of taking part in a helicopter visit to

some remote villages in the earthquake zone in Northern Pakistan. The party was led
by Dr. Nasim Ashraf, Minister of State and Chairman of The National Commission for
Human Development, and comprised a number of Founder members of the Pakistan
Human Development Fund UK of which I am proud to be a Patron.

 

This proved to be an extremely moving and humbling experience. As we flew through

the valleys we were shocked by the state and extent of the damage. Ballakot at the

epicentre of the earthquake was literally flattened and appeared to consist of roofs
lying on the ground. The walls of the valley were scarred by numerous landslides.
 
   
 
We landed on a small plateau at the first village and were greeted by hundreds of men
from the village which we could see below was seventy percent destroyed. I was
enormously impressed by the courage and dignity of the villagers who made us feel
so welcome in spite of their hardships. We all sat together in a formal gathering where
the local mayor made a welcoming speech and the Minister replied. Their prime
concern was that their water supply had been completely cut off.
 
After landing in another village, we were driven in Land Rovers down a narrow,
precipitous and badly damaged track to the tented encampment which now housed
the villagers. All the way along the road, there were piles of rubble containing the
pathetic debris from shattered homes including clothing and personal effects.
 
   
 
We were taken to a small marquee which was signed
"Primary School" and found in the dark interior some fifty
small children being taught English on a homemade
blackboard. As I looked at these beautiful children with
their shining eyes, I was moved to tears at the thought of
what they had already been through in terms of
bereavement and traumatic disruption of their home life
and even more of what lay ahead when the valley lay in
the grip of ferocious mountain winter.
A doctor who had dedicated himself to providing vital medical cover for the devastated
village escorted us round the makeshift hospital that he had created. The commitment
of his small staff and the indomitable spirit of the villagers took my breath away.
 
I was able to have a long talk with the deputy head of the United Nations relief team who
are doing a wonderful job. He said that four hundred thousand human beings were living
at heights of between 5,000 and 10,000 feet in the stricken area. They were mostly living
in makeshift tenting and, apart from heavy snow, they were facing temperatures of -9C.
He was desperately worried about how these brave people would cope with disease,
hypothermia and accident in areas that were about to become inaccessible except by
the occasional helicopter in a weather break.
 
Spring is approaching and I have nightmares about the casualties that will have
occurred among these brave people during the winter. What will undoubtedly be
needed is an enormous relief operation with international support to repair as much as
possible of the damage and to prepare for next winter. There is a desperate need for
additional charitable aid through properly directed agencies. I know of no better agency
than the Pakistan Human Development Fund for ensuring that the maximum benefit for
the communities in need is obtained from donations.